My New Home - Moving with kids got easier

Don’t let a long checklist overwhelm you as a parent and do consider the needs of your children in the process of moving houses. No matter of age, be it a baby, a toddler, a pre-schooler or above, moving with children puts extra pressure on the whole family. As a child, though, the perception can be different as many times parents leave their children in the dark about the move, what it implies until it’s too late and the moving company truck has pulled down the street. We understand the stress of the period which is placed on parents of toddlers and babies especially, even more, if we speak about single parents relocating.

Every family’s life is filled with tangible and intangible things. What makes a house a home? Of course, it is beyond material things, such as the sofa, the children's bed or the colour of the carpet. Yet the tangibles are naturally linked with the intangible things. How? Each holds a story and a special meaning, and sometimes there are different attachments for each family member: for example, the living room sofa can be the resting spot for the mother, the memory spot for the daddy holding his little infant girl after coming from the hospital, and for the kid the favourite playground in the house where she can display all the toys and be in the same room as her parents. It can also be a collective attachment as the spot where the family gathers at night to read bedtime stories to the little ones before all the favourite children storybooks are exhausted. It is this hard then to identify what each family member will miss the most and which attachment is the strongest towards what, especially when it comes to toddlers and pre-schoolers moving houses. A series of multiple discussions to identify these topics is crucial. The unique personalised children book My New Home tries to give a good overview, not exhaustive, but a solid start to have that discussion in a relaxed and fun environment, helped by beautiful illustrations and the kid’s feeling he/she recognises himself/herself in the storybook as the hero of this adventure.

Besides the discussion on the personal meaning and personal attachment of children to the home intangibles, another essential topic refers to the familiar environment which is, in the eyes of the kid, an extension of the home. Here, we refer to your garden, terrace, walk to kindergarten, the neighbourhood playground, the favourite swimming place in the summer, even the familiarity of the local supermarket and their products displayed. The experienced perceived and real loss for the kid, be it of the age of a toddler, pre-schooler or higher, does not touch only upon intangibles with monetary value, but also upon belongings which give the chid of familiarity and security.

There is a bigger difference between an international assignment where a family becomes an expat family in a foreign country and a move within the same state of part of the home country. The latter involves a smoother transition, as in most cases, the family brings along most if not all the intangible’s things, due to the lower cost of transportation. The first one, referring to expatriate children with their families is much more difficult: many times, they must fit everything for aeroplane travel. Shipping of stuff can be expensive relative to the worth of the material things which would have to be moved, therefore the parents take a practical and logical decision to leave most of it behind or sell it and buy new things in the new home. This means only a small proportion of the things from the home will end up in the new home. The feeling of displacement and insecurity for the children can be magnified, if not addressed early on in time, before the move and in a proper manner. Here, the personalised kids book My New Home brings support for the families with children. It is a great storybook about moving for toddlers to be shared within the family, not only for the parents. The personalised book aims to involve the kid in as many tasks and decisions as possible, without making the job of the parent harder, but easier. The book also touches upon how to help your child cope with moving anxiety by its pure structure and design of each page, but it will not solve deeper problems or anxieties the kid might have already formed. Therefore, it is perfect for any child relocation or any family with kids move.

Reaction to the feelings expressed by children moving houses is another crucial topic have in mind: by not putting much energy or thought in the process and dismissing any show of feelings from the kid as immature or temporary, the parents can risk pushing those feelings down into the kid, with consequences later after the move in hard time to adapt, lack of proper sleep, agitated child or more prone to mischiefs. Another possible outcome for kids can be that they feel it is somehow their fault, and they blame themselves for the feelings of sadness and regret.

The opposite of this reaction can be observed in other parents, where the bribery function or just a good intention from the parent can have unwanted consequences for the kid: the parent might try to explain to the kid that the new home will be bigger, that the children room will be larger, that there will be more toys, or that they will buy new toys upon arrival. That is like throwing darts in the dark and hoping to hit the mark. Without investigating first what the fears are on the kid side, without explaining the reasons for the move and the steps which are coming, without involving the kid in the moving decisions, without including her in the move tasks, the parent cannot know for sure what is there to be addressed and how. That’s why the personalised storybook about moving for toddlers, children relocation or even moving with babies, tries to support the parent with just those points.

Many friends of families with kids consider the personalised kids book My New Home as the best housewarming gift for the first home, or even better a great housewarming gift for kids. Why we would emphasize the central role of the book in preparing the kids' move into a new home, we acknowledge the features which can apply after the move into the new house and see the kids’ book as a unique housewarming gift for the family. It contains features as the picture of the new home, activities to prepare once moved in, the new address memorizing and practising, a picture with the whole family in the new home. While we see it as a moving away gift idea for the family from friends, it can be used as well as a unique housewarming gift for a family who just moved in.